Judge gives shooters 60 years in 2008 slaying

TRENTON — The convicted killers of the troubled namesake son of popular Hamilton golfer Joe Costanzo were both sentenced to 60 years in prison today for robbery-murder.

Brian and Damien Johnson proclaimed their innocence, saying simply that they were not the masked men who stormed a house full of partying druggies on Dec. 1, 2008, and shot Costanzo in the face.

I didn’t do it. You’ve got the wrong man,’’ suspected triggerman Damien Johnson told the court. To make his statement, Brian Johnson turned to relatives of Costanzo on one side of the courtroom and is own family and friends on the other side:

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“I am sorry for your loss. I can’t image losing a child. I have a son myself, but I am not a cold blooded killer.’’ He also insisted that Damien Johnson wasn’t the shooter, because he also wasn’t there, and said his conviction was the result of “a lot of lying.’’

But Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier handed down the sentences anyway, saying the unrelated Johnsons will be “quite old’’ when they can first come up for parole in 2065 as convicts in their 90s.

Their lawyers, Kelly Anderson Smith and Bruce Throckmorton, promised an appeal and argued before the separate hearings that the witnesses used by authorities were too compromised by their own crimes.

They also said witness testimony suggested that, whoever did the shooting, it happened so suddenly and without warning that it might have been “inadvertent,’’ as Brian Johnson lawyer Smith said.

Assistant Mercer Prosecutor Al Garcia said the jury heard the witnesses, most admitted druggies fearful of prosecution, and determined they spoke the truth when they took the stand.

Witnesses identified the suspects as at the robbers at the scene, told of them obtaining and later taking apart the .44-magnum murder weapon, and about them telling others they took out a guy in a home invasion at 1429 S. Clinton Ave., a few doors down from where the Johnson boys lived.

In a victim impact statement, the Costanzos said the killing of 38-year-old Joe worsened the health of his father, who once was among the best and best-liked of amateur golfers in Greater Trenton. The stress of the attending the trial in March and April also has taken its toll on the victim’s mother.

The family, which had tried for years to keep Joe Costanzo away from drugs, asked the judge to give the Johnsons the max. The judge did just that.

About the Author

Paul Mickle is a reporter for The Trentonian and a past editor of the newspaper. He is best known for his 16 years of work as a crime reporter and has won several journalism awards. Reach the author at pmickle@trentonian.com
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